Melody
by Kiyutsuna
Summary: Two different lives, woven together on the tapestry of fate by a simple melody.


Disclaimer: I don't own Len and Rin . ...as much as I wish I do XD

And well, some concepts of this story were inspired by the song "triangle roof love story" by Len. But the plot and all that are original ideas ^^

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><p><strong>Melody<strong>

Rin's fingers moved across the smooth wooden keys in a familiar pattern. The piano responded, and wove the melody into the air. However Rin's mind was troubled. Her fingers stumbled on the keys as she remembered what the doctor had said that morning.

"_The treatments aren't working as well as we had hoped," The man in the white coat had sighed. "The cancer in your lungs is getting worse rather than better."_

Rin had had lung cancer for over a year now. She endured through numerous painful treatments in hope that the disease would be cured and her life could go back to normal again. Her parents worked all day and came home late at night, trying to earn enough money to support the medical fees.

Because she was only 12, her parents hired a nanny who tutored her in the mornings. During the afternoons when the nanny napped while knitting (not a very productive task), Rin played the tunes she made up herself on the old piano.

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><p>"Alright ya brats! Go and play somewhere far away from the orphanage for the rest of the afternoon. Just be back by dinner time and don't get into any trouble ya hear me?"<p>

The head caregiver's gruff voice scared all the children. They eyed the whip she held in her hand and nodded.

"Yes ma'am."

Len stood among the rest of the children feeling lost. He had just came to this orphanage the previous day when his old one shut down. The two orphanages were nothing alike. The caregivers here didn't care about the children at all, they sent them out to play in the afternoons while slacking off themselves.

As the crowd of children went separate directions. Len wandered out the orphanage gates and into a cluster of houses. He walked along, looking around at the unfamiliar setting and enjoyed the afternoon sun. As he slowly neared a house with a red rooftop, Len heard a light melody coming from the house. The more he listened, the more beautiful the song sounded. Subconsciously, he followed the sound and found himself at the base of a windowsill of the house. Len peered in a saw a girl playing on a piano. She had orange-y blond hair that was down to her shoulders and looked about Len's age, though her build was smaller and somewhat more fragile. Len watched as she played, captivated by the music. When the song ended, the girl looked out the window and their eyes met.

Len stood there, not sure what he should do. The girl opened the window.

"Hello." She said, looking at Len. "Um…what are you doing here?"

He scrambled through the little bag he carried with him, and pulled out a notepad and a pencil. Hastily he wrote down:

'_I'm sorry, I heard the song you played and couldn't help but follow it here.'_

Len held up the note to the girl, who read it carefully. She looked at Len again.

"You can't talk?"

Taking the notepad back, he wrote again:

_'No, I had a fever awhile ago that made me mute.'_

He handed the notepad to the girl again.

Her expression softened as she read the note.

"Oh I see," she said, smiling "I'm sorry to hear that. So what's your name?"

'_My name's Len' _he wrote.

"Hi Len, my name's Rin"

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><p>Rin watched as Len started writing something on his notepad again. It must be hard to suddenly have your voice taken away, she thought.<p>

Len gave the notepad to Rin, and it read

_'Is it okay for me to keep listening to you play? There's nothing else to do in the afternoons.'_

"Huh? Where are you from?"

'_I just moved to the orphanage near here, the caregivers don't give much care.'_

Rin laughed at the last part of the note, though she knew that it was true. She had heard about how badly the orphanage treated the orphans from her nanny, who had a tendency to lecture Rin about how lucky she was despite her illness.

"Well, I have nothing to do in the afternoons either," Rin said, she smiled at Len. "Why don't you come in instead of standing there?"

Len was startled for a moment, and then he wrote again:

_"Thank you. But, are you sure it's okay?"_

_"_Of course I'm sure! Daddy and mommy are never home, and my nanny's too sleepy to mind."

Len thought for a moment, then handed Rin the next note:

"_Thank you, you're really nice.__"_

When Rin looked up from the note, she found Len smiling for the first time since they met. Rin thought he looked like an angel with his pale blond hair that glittered in the sun; soulful blue eyes that were the colour of the sky; and a warm smile.

Rin hurried to her nanny and told her that she was inviting a friend in, her nanny simply nodded and went back to her nap. Rin led Len into the study. The room was furnished with a simple desk; a bookshelf full of books; some chairs; and a large ebony grand piano.

By means of writing and hand gestures, Len told Rin about his life as an orphan. His parents died when he was 6, and he grew up in an orphanage in the next town. But that orphanage had shut down a few days ago, so he was sent to the orphanage here.

Rin also told Len about herself, leaving out the part that she was sick. Rin found Len surprisingly easy to talk to. He was really quite cheerful once he got over his shyness. Rin was glad about that. After all, she didn't want her new friend to always be distant and shy.

Len was very interested in the piano and Rin's ability to play it. But when Rin offered to teach him how to play, he immediately wrote:

'_I can't trouble you with that! Won't you get into trouble if your parents found out or something?'_

"Don't worry!" Rin said stubbornly. "Your caregivers probably don't care what you do, and my parents would be more happy than mad anyways. They always worry that I don't have any friends because I stay home all the time. Now do you want to learn or not?"

Len was hesitant for a moment, slowly he wrote:

_'Well…if you're sure that it's fine, then I'd be very grateful.'_

"You bet that I'm sure. Now let's get started!"

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><p>Rin taught Len everything she knew about playing the piano. They started with "doe, rai, and mi"; then moved on to the black and white keys; then on to how to put the notes together to form a melody.<p>

Len was a fast learner, only a week had passed before he could play simple tunes fluently. During their time spent together, the two became good friends. The afternoons that used to be dull turned into something they both looked forward to. When they weren't playing the piano together they'd sit and talk (or write in Len's case). They talked with each other about anything and everything, and it would always end with both of them laughing together.

Just like that, the days turned into weeks. Time passed happily for the two.

That is, until Rin's illness started to get worse and worse. Len started to notice that something was wrong when Rin started to turn pale and cough more and more often as she talked. Rin did not wish for Len to know about her lung cancer, so she hid it by saying that she only had a cold.

Len wondered why Rin's cold never got better. However, since Rin dismissed the subject every time it was brought up and acted the same as usual despite the coughing. Things went on as before.

One afternoon, Len came to the red roofed house to find Rin sitting by the piano, waiting for him. Her face was unusually sad on top of being pale. When Len went in the room, she stood up and said to him:

"This will be the last afternoon we can spend together Len, I'm moving away tomorrow."

That morning, Rin went to the hospital with her parents for yet another check up on her condition. This time, the doctor had even worse news: Rin had to be hospitalized. Her chances of being cured were now slim, but if she were to be taken care of at the hospital, the disease may get slightly better.

Rin was devastated by the news. Before, she at least could have stayed home and do whatever she wished as long as she took her medicine and didn't put too much strain on her health. She did _not_ like the hospital.

Furthermore, what about Len? She tried hard to hide the fact that she was sick from him so he wouldn't be burdened by the knowledge. They were having so much fun together, playing music side by side every afternoon. Rin didn't know what to do, she couldn't tell Len the truth, it was better to not let him know.

On the way home Rin decided to tell Len that she was moving away. It wouldn't be a complete lie, since she _was _indeedmoving. She was moving to the hospital.

That afternoon, a sad melody was woven into the air from the red roofed house.

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><p>A month passed after Rin left. Needless to say, Len's afternoons were spent alone. He didn't fit in with the other kids' games so he sat by himself in corners and tapped his fingers to the sound of the wind. Len thought about Rin often. He remembered her pale face during the last week they spent together and worried about her. He knew that her sickness was more than she let on. Len thought about that last afternoon, when Rin told him she was moving away. She couldn't look at Len in the eye the whole time, and fidgeted with her fingers. The more Len thought, the more suspicious he was of Rin's story. Was she really moving away? Finally he couldn't sit around any longer. So Len set off down the now familiar path to Rin's house.<p>

Minutes later, Len arrived near the house. Before he could get closer, he saw a man and woman standing by the door. The couple saw Len as well, and approached him.

"You must be Len." The man said, "Rin told us about you."

Len recognized that those people were Rin's parents, he took out his notepad and wrote:

'_Where's Rin? Is she okay?'_

The couple's eyes turned sad, the woman said:

"Rin…is at the hospital, her cancer's gotten way worse."

At the word "cancer", Len turned pale and stared at Rin's parents. They took in his expression and asked:

"Did Rin not tell you about that?"

'_She said she only had a cold, though I did think there was something more to that…will Rin be cured?'_

The two adults' faces darkened again…slowly the man said:

"I'm afraid…the doctor said…it's too late."

Tears rolled down the woman's cheeks. Len stood there, unable to comprehend the news.

"Would you like to go see her?" Rin's mother asked "I'm sure Rin would be glad to see you before she…"

The sentence trailed off, and Len merely nodded.

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><p>Rin stared out the window, wishing that she could be outside feeling the autumn breeze instead of listening to the machines near her bed. She looked back at the room. It looked like any other hospital room with whitewashed walls and numerous machines, probably showing just how bad her condition was in unfeeling red numbers. The thing that stood out the most in the room was a stand-up piano that was near the window. The nurses kindly moved it to Rin's room when she asked to play the piano. Unfortunately, that was weeks ago, when she was still relatively healthy. The cancer had spread through her body and now she could barely move from her bed.<p>

The door opened quietly. Rin turned her eyes to the sound, expecting to see her parents. Instead, she saw-

"Len." Rin gasped, not sure if she was imagining him being there or not.

Len ran over to where Rin was, his happiness from seeing her again was clouded by how sickly she looked. Rin's face had lost its entire former rosy glow, her eyes sunk in their sockets, but she still smiled at Len. The weak smile made Len want to cry.

Rin's parents left the two kids in the room, though not because they didn't care about Rin. Her parents did love her very much. But they knew that they could only do so much for Rin, and Len could probably make her happier than they could.

Back in the room, Len was busy writing:

'_Your parents told me everything, why did you lie about this?'_

"I didn't want you to worry, Len. It's too late to do anything about that anyways."

_'Please don't die.'_

"That's not up to me you know. If I had it my way I'd be up and playing songs on the piano right now."

Rin pouted and looked at the piano longingly, then said to Len:

"Will you play for me? It's incredibly dull here."

So Len played. He played one melody after the next for Rin, filling the room with the familiar tunes that only they knew. For the next –and last- few weeks of Rin's life, Len stayed with her everyday, playing the piano and having conversations with her much like the way they did back in the days when Rin was healthy.

One night, Rin woke up from her sleep coughing under her breathing mask. The sound woke Len, who had slept on the chair near the bed. He moved closer to Rin, checking to see if she was alright.

Rin was strangely calm. She had a feeling that she was going to die soon, she could feel her life slipping from her grasp. Yet, she wasn't scared. She felt light, like the notes that drifted from her piano and into the air. Rin took off her breathing mask and reached out for Len. Len took her hand, while gesturing for Rin to put her mask back on. Rin ignored that, she needed to talk.

"Len, don't worry about me. I don't mind dying." She said. "I'm happy, really happy that I got to meet you, thank you for everything."

Tears flowed down Len's face, he shook his head vigorously while clasping Rin's hand tighter.

"Please don't be sad for me."

Rin continued, her voice growing weaker with each word. At that moment the sun rose, and the light bathed both of them in a warm glow. She gazed at Len.

"You know, you really do look like an angel." Rin murmured, looking into Len's blue eyes that were soaked with tears. "You're like an angel sent to me by god. I love you so much, Len."

Len choked back sobs, he desperately wanted to say something, anything! He was not an angel, if he was then he'd keep Rin from dying. But, there was so much he had to say. He wanted to tell Rin that he loved her too, that she was the best thing that had happened to Len ever since his parents left him. He wanted to tell her how thankful he was of Rin. Len struggled with himself, with his voice. It felt as if he had a boulder stuck in his throat that kept the words inside him. As he felt Rin's hand losing its warmth and slipping from his grasp, his mind overflowed with thoughts. _No, no…Rin! Don't die don't die don't die!_

"Rin!"

Somehow Len found his voice at the exact moment Rin's life faded. Luckily, Rin heard the word. She marveled at how Len's voice sounded at that second. It was just as she had always imagined: strong, warm and filled with emotion. She smiled at Len for the last time as she closed her eyes, and let herself drift away.

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><p>After Rin's death, her parents adopted Len from the orphanage according to her wishes. Len grew up and became a wonderful musician. Every afternoon, he would sit at the old ebony piano, which now had a photo of Rin sitting on top of it, and let the melody that he and Rin used to play together fill the air.<p>

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><p><span>Author's Note:<span>

So~ that's the end of my first fan fiction!^^ I actually wrote this quite awhile ago for a writer's workshop thing. Buuuut I really liked writing it so I thought I'd publish it here after reading SO MANY EPIC fan fictions!

Anyway, I would really appreciate some reviews if it's not too much trouble :)


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